Avatar, Tunnel of Darkness
by BOBthieBomber
Summary: After a freak accident trying to move some spirits, Korra and the gang now found them self in a unknown and hostile world. However, there may be a light in this long dark tunnel for them. Takes places after book 2 of LoK and two years after Redemption ending of Metro last light.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**I do not own Legend of Korra or the Metro game franchise. All rights go to their respective owners. **

Chapter 1 – Prologue

Asami was having a bad day. Thinks weren't just working out for her. She had just finished a border meeting with the executive directors of the company. She walked down the stairs in the office building where she have had the meeting and exited out on the street. She walked to her car and opened the door and sat down inside in the driver's seat. She sighed and put her head on the driver's wheel, almost hitting the horn. Ever since the event with the equalist and her father the company has gone downhill. However the now former businessman Varrick managed to save it from complete bankruptcy. But while he managed to save it from bankruptcy the aftershocks from her father's work was still in play. It would take years to repair the damaged done by her dad but she would not give up so easily. She took her head up from the driver's wheel and started the engine.

She drove out from the parking lot and out on to the street. She drove down the street thinking and recalling of what have transpired in last year so far. Her father working for the equalist, she meeting and befriending the avatar. Met a nice guy who would later dump her for the avatar to later dump her to later come back to her, it was a difficult relationship. She would later get involved in a plot to completely throw the world into full chaos but was there and helped to stop it. She kept thinking until she snapped back to reality and managed to avoid a giant spirit plant that covered most of the road. Ever sin the harmonic conversion the spirits of the spirit world had really started to settle down in the city and surrounding areas. She kept on driving until she had reached her destination, the docks she would later take a ferry towards air temple island that lay in the bay of the city. She walked on to the ferry and sat down at one of the many seats on it and smiled to herself. She was finally finished with all of her meetings and business trips and could finally take a vacation and she knows exactly which ones to spend it with. The trip took about a half hour but she arrived without any big complications. The island looked the same as it usually did. She walked up the many stairs from the docks of the island and entered the courtyard of the main temple of the island. She kept walking until she saw in the distance some familiar her faces, her friends.

"Hey guys." She yelled out. The others looked at her direction and smiled.

"Hey its Asmai, Hey Asmai." Bolin yelled out while waving his hand in Asmai direction like a maniac. Mako and Korra gave out similar greetings but not as extreme as Bolins. Asami smiled and walked up to her friends.

"It's so nice to see you all again." Asami said while giving Mako a hug. Korra couldn't help herself by giving a little frown because of this. Asami stopped the hug and looked towards the rest of her friends.

"How are you all doing?" She asked.

"All good here." Bolin said while scratching behind his head. Korra however looked a little sad. Asmai noticed this and she knew what problem was.

"Still no luck?" She asked.

"No" Was all Korra said. What Asami was referring to was what Unalaq bonded to Vaatu had done by destroying Raava, the one who made sure that the line of avatar would always go on. For all she knew, she could be the last avatar ever. Bolin tried to raise the mood in the group.

"Don't you Worry, Korra. You can still do all the things the avatar is supposed to do right…right?" Bolin said in hope that it would at least help someway. Korra couldn't help but to smile at Bolins antics. The group then started to walk towards the temple when they soon saw Tenzin walking towards them. He smiled towards them and said.

"Hello there young ones" He said while still walking towards them and stopped right infront of the group. He then looked towards Asamis and said.

"Asami, its good to see you again and welcome back." He said while bowing towards the young woman.

"Thank you, master Tenzin and it is good to be back." Asami said while also giving a bow in respect towards the airbender master. Tenzin smiled and then turned towards Korra.

"Young avatar Korra, I hope that you have had good progress with the spirits currently in the city." He asked the young avatar. Korra looked down on the ground in shame.

"Eh…not really." She said with a sheepish smile while feeling slightly embarrassed. Tenzin sighed and put his face in the palm of his hand.

"Korra, you do realize that these spirits must be dealt with. They are causing havoc all over the city because they and their human neighbors cannot come to terms with each other. And it doesn't help that chief beifong has been all over me about it. After Unalaq you are the only one who can make the spirits calm down." Tenzin finished. He then walked off towards the temple and entered one of the many doors. Korra watched Tenzin go before towards her friend.

"Well it seems that we must cut the reunion short. It still seems that I have work to do." She said with a sheepish smile. Her friends however smiled and Mako said.

"No worries, we can go with you. Help you if we can." He said while the two other nodded.

"Yeah, I mean. These spirit needs to be put in their place. They think that they own this town when they do not." Bolin said afterwards.

"We will always help you if you need help." Asami finished. Korra gave a big smile, she was so lucky to have such good friends.

* * *

><p>"For the last time, I'm not moving" The angry koala spirit said, still gripping hard on the spirit tree that was growing out from the street and into the surrounding buildings. It has been hours since the group had left air Temple Island and have since then tried to remove the spirits that is currently occupying most of downtown.<p>

"And I keep telling you that this isn't your home but someone's house that your tree is currently in." Bolin said towards the angry spirit, trying to help Korra move some of the spirits out from downtown.

"It's not my fault my tree suddenly appeared in the middle of the street." The Koala argued back. While the two were at it Korra tried time after time to remove the spirit trees with the unique waterbending tactic that she learned from Unalaq before he was exposed as the man who tried to destroy the world as the dark avatar. She tried time after time to remove the trees but every time she managed to do it they just moved back to where they were before. Korra let out a irritated groan and tried one more time with the same result.

"Gah, this isn't working. Whatever I do they just move back to where they were before." Korra said and stomped once on the ground in frustration. Asami put her hands on Korras shoulder.

"It's okay Korra." She said. "You will get it eventually." Korra looked at her friend and smiled. She was about to try again when a police car rolled up next to the avatar and a familiar face stepped out.

"Korra, I want to speak to you." Lin said towards the avatar. Korra groaned again and walked up towards the irritated chief of police.

"What is it Lin?" She asked, like she didn't know what it was all about. Lin glared at the young avatar and said.

"You know what it is. These spirits and their trees and what not is causing havoc all over town and my officers are working double time trying to get some sense of peace on the streets." Lin said with a angry frown, just like always.

"And here I was told you had the power to help remove these spirits but so far I have seen no big progress in that. I am starting to wonder that if you have what it takes at all" She finished. Korra glared at her hard and Lin glared back just as hard. They both seemed to ignore everything around them and just kept on staring at each other. Asami backed away a little in fear of what would happen next. Finally Korra decided to speak.

"You want to see result, fine." She said and stomped towards the same tree she had tried to move earlier except this time she was determined to make id move away. She started using the same tactic before except this time she put in a lot more effort into it. She started sweating but kept on going, the water going faster around the spot. It started to take effect on the tree but it seemed like it was starting to crack, white light starting ti sip out. Bolin and the koala had now stopped arguing with each other and stared towards the avatar.

"Now then I think of it maybe it is time to move." The Koala said with a fearful tone before letting go of the tree and started to run away in the opposite direction. Bolin stared with a puzzled look that asked what just happened when suddenly the spirit tree started to glow even brighter. But Korra was determent to move the tree and kept going.

"Uh, Korra. Maybe you should stop" Mako said to the avatar.

"No, I will move it." Korra said with while still going on when suddenly the tree somewhat exploded. Pieces of the tree went everywhere but the light was still there and was almost blinding all of them.

"You fool, you ignorant fool." They could suddenly hear someone yell behind them. They looked back and saw the Koala stand far away from where he "used" to live.

"You don't know what happens when you destroy a spirit tree. It has drastic consequences. It can cause permanent wheatear changes, sink continents or…" Suddenly everyone started to feel something sucking them towards where the tree was. When they looked towards it they saw a portal had opened up and was giving out a strong sucking vortex.

"…or open up a portal to places unknown. Well it has been nice staying around but I have to go know." The Koala finished and ran away. Now every human around started to feel like the sucking started to increase until it started to lift them of the ground. Korra started to panic and tried to grab on to something. She wasn't able to and started to fly towards the portal until she felt a strong hand grabbing her hand. She looked at the person who held on to her and saw that it was no other and Lin. She had shoot out a cable that had stuck to one of the building. Korra made a mental note to herself to thank her until she heard someone screaming. She saw Asami coming towards them and Korra stretched out her hand to catch her friend. Asami managed to grab on to it but it tugged them good that Lin almost lost her grip.

"Hold on Asami." Korra said to Asami who held on to dear life.

"AHHHH, Catch me." They suddenly heard someone scream. They looked towards the source of the sound and saw Bolin as well as Mako coming towards them. Asami held out her hand and Mako managed to catch it while Bolin managed to grab on to one of Asamis legs. Korra looked at her friends and sighed a relief when she saw that they managed to grab on but then she felt that Lin started to lose her grip on Korras hand. Korra looked at Lin who tried her best to hold on.

"Hold on Korra." Lin said between gritted teeth but it was useless. She lost her grip and the avatar and her friends were sucked into the portal. Afterwards the portal seemed to collapse on its self and was itself sucked in until in disappeared from existence. Lin fell to the ground and looked towards were the portal had been. She looked franticly around but it was no use.

Team avatar was gone.

She groaned and wondered how she was supposed to tell this to Tenzin.

* * *

><p>The tunnel was long and dark…like all the others he had walked. A single person walked along the tunnel. Weapon held stern in his hand. This man whore a strange body suit with a bulletproof vest on his chest and a helmet that had pair of night vision googles strapped to it. A large backpack was on his back and another weapon was hanging alongside it. On his hip there was another weapon holstered but smaller than the others. On his face and under the helmet he wore a gasmask that was a little cracked but so far it could still be used. Many would deem it insane to travel alone through any tunnel but this man was not like any other. This man had walked almost every tunnel, visited every station. Had fought the most fearsome and powerful of all mutant creatures but had always come out on top. He have fought armies alone and won battle after battle. The most powerful warriors in the tunnels respected and feared him. Who is he?<p>

He is Artyom, savior of the metro.

And he was currently on a scouting mission.

You would think that someone of his status would get something more exiting but no here he was, sent all the way to some of the furthest station to check for supplies for the ranger order. He was currently leaving the station by the name of Voykovskaya that was located far out on the second line that has been abandoned for some time now and was now heading towards the station Belorusskaya which was populated. There he would travel through Hansa stations until he reached his home, Exhibition where his Wife and son waited for his return. Why he was here in the first place you ask? The rangers, or what is left of the rebuilding order that had suffered enormous casualties at the Battle of D6 two years ago, had heard that the stations in the direction of Voykovskaya had been close to old military convoys with large stockpiles of supplies were trying to get out of the city before the bombs hit. So far this trip has been nothing but a waste of his time. He has so far only encountered mutants and other things and when going up to the surface to check it out he found no convoy what so ever and those military vehicles he found had been scavenged since long. The mutant attacks encountered so far have been surprisingly low which he preferred. A couple of Lurkers and one lonely Nosalises here and there which were probably scouts which meant that their friends could be either close or far away. Either way, he had to hurry, one or two he could easily dispatch but a hundred on the same time was a little too much even for him.

While walking through the tunnel he looked down on his weapon in his hand. Each of his weapons had a history and had played an important role in his travels throughout the metro. His first weapon that he was holding in his hands was a standard AK 74M assault rifle but was more commonly known in the metro as the Kalash, uses the commonly found 5:45 caliber rounds and the more rare and expensive Military Grade Rounds. While many would prefer the Kalash 2012 he liked this one instead thanks to its slow rate of fire and higher knockback then the more modern version. After he was captured by the Nazis he managed to get it back when he escaped their concentration camp. He had a couple of attachments on the weapon. Amongst them were a laser sight, a scope and last an extended magazine that was capable of holding up to 46 bullets. This Kalash were the same one that he took from Bourbons backpack after he was captured by the bandits at dry station and he had used it ever since then. Bourbon, he remembered that guy alright, a man with more enemies than friends. That wherever he went more trouble seemed to follow and soon get him. A man who gave his life to save his, you don't get that often in the metro. He thought he was dead until two years ago when in the station now known as Venice he heard a couple of bandits talk about dry station and what have happened there. That everyone was wiped out…except for one. He managed to listen closely and heard that the one who managed to escape the onslaught caused by him were no other than Bourbon who had cheated death back then. Artyom couldn't help but smiling a little when he heard those news. So that son of a bitch was still alive back then but now who knows.

On his back was his other weapon of choice, the Saiga. With the discovery of D6 a lot of new weapons so far unknown to the metro was found and no one was more welcomed then the Saiga. An automatic shotgun that uses 12G shotgun shells and have the same force and fire rate as the heavy version but with a less complicated reload made it a lot simpler to use. As well with the Kalash it wore attachments as well. It had a so called drummagazine which doubled the ammo and a laser sight as well. This particular gun he managed to acquire from the ranger base known as Sparta on the surface. An old abandoned church that had been fortified into a bunker and with clean air to breathe in. he had bought this shotgun from one of the merchants that were resting there before they were all killed by that traitor Lesnitsky and his goons. Lesnitsky, a red spy who had managed to infiltrate the ranger order and was the one responsible for wiping out Oktyabrskaya with a biochemical weapon. Lesnitsky and he had confronted each other at the depot and he had the chance to end him right there and then but didn't. Even to this day Artyom keeps asking himself. Did he do the right thing? Did Lesnitsky deserve to live or was it a mistake to spare his miserable life. In the end, it doesn't matter. The reds were defeated at D6 thanks to the little dark one and his kin. Maybe that was the reason all along why he didn't finish Lesnitsky of. To prove that humans aren't always bloodthirsty. That killing…is the worse crime of them all.

The last of his weapons were his trusty revolver. A powerful .44 magnum pistol. Able to take down most threats with ease but kicks like a mule when it's fired. It has only one attachment which happens to be nothing more than a simple silencer. This gun like the rest has a history. It was given to him by Pavel when they escaped the Reich concentration camp together. Pavel, a good friend and a trusty companion but also a loyal red soldier and a backstabber. Even though he betrayed him at Teatralnaya also known as Theatre and then chased him throughout all of the metro and through the hostile environment of dead Moscow he could not find himself hating him in the end. When the little dark one open Pavels mind for him he saw the truth. That even he regretted what he had done. There were no anger, no pride, and no happiness…only sadness inside Pavel. To this day he wondered why he was sad. Was it because Artyom did not join him and the red line when he had the chance. Was it that he felt that he had betrayed their friendship or was there some other reason? In the end Artyom could not kill him. He left Pavel at the red square and has not seen him since then. He wondered if he went back to the red line or if he just disappeared from the face of the earth. Artyom was certain that the red line would not survive after the battle of D6 but miraculously like a phoenix rising from the ashes it survived and managed to rebuild itself but alas only a shadow if its former glory. And even though they barely survived they would still pick a fight with the Nazis. The Nazis, after D6 many would fear that the Reich would try the chance to conquer the metro but they did not. Probably because they didn't have the manpower for such a thing.

Artyom shook his head and stared in to the tunnel in front of him. He would soon reach the station Sokol and then there was a couple more station until he would reach Belorusskaya. However though, he had to be careful. This tunnel harbored more than just mutants.

* * *

><p>Asami stirred. She felt something sniffing on her. She tried to open her eyes but they were heavy but she managed. She looked at what was sniffing at her and her eyes went wide. There was the ugliest thing she has ever seen. A hairless creature with a chinny mouth that were pointed upwards and the mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. It was a little bigger than a fire ferret but still terrifying up close. Asami did what any would do if they saw something like that so close, she screamed. The thing screeched back and ran away.<p>

"AH, what's happening?" She heard someone say behind her and she looked towards the source of the voice. It was hard to see in the dark but thanks to a fire close by she could see at least a little. She could see three figures in the weak light and she could make out which had said something.

"Bolin?" She said. Bolin looked at her and smiled.

"Asami." He said and ran up to her and gave her a platypusbear hug. She found it hard to breathe and Bolin noticed this and smiled sheepishly. He released her and they heard someone else stir.

"Huh what happened?" They heard and saw Mako getting up from the ground. They also saw Korra waking up as well. Korra looked around and saw her friends and they were okay.

"Guys, are you okay?" She asked. Bolin responded.

"We're okay Korra but I wonder. Where are we?" She asked and all of them looked around. They seemed to be at would be described as a big hallway with a platform in the middle and with a tunnel on each side of it. The platform had a single row of pillars that held up the roof which in turn had giant holes in it. The tunnels seemed to have what looked like train tracks on them. They looked to the each end of platform and saw stairways that went upwards but they were blocked with ruble and other debris. In turn the platform was littered with debris and the roof looked like it was about to fall.

"What is this, some kind of old temple?" Mako wondered. They all kept looking around trying to figure out where they were without noticing that someone was watching and listening from the darkness.

* * *

><p>Artyom had arrived to Sokol station about a minute ago after he heard someone scream. he had sat up camp there earlier that day which explained the still burning fire however when he arrived he did not expect to see a bunch of kids at the station. He was currently hiding behind one of the pillars that were all over the platform on the station. He carefully studied the kids. They looked confused and looked around at the station like they had never seen one before. There was also another strange thing about them, their clothes. Two of them seemed to dress in the same clothing but with different colors, one in green and was a little chubby and the other in red but was long and lean. Their clothes seemed to look on the same time old fashioned but also brand new in comparison you can scavenge in the metro. Another was a beautiful young woman dressed in what could be assumed as a fancy black and red suit and like the other seemed brand new but also unlike any other seen in the metro. The last was also a young woman and she wore what seemed to look like animal hides and blue pants. He snuck closer and listened in of what they were saying. He had to be careful, for all he knew they could be young bandits but he couldn't see any weapons around.<p>

"Okay, does anyone have at least any idea of where we are?" The cubby one asked the others. The long one looked around and noticed the signs that were that were located close at one of the stairways. He walked up to them and looked at them. He looked like he had trouble reading them which were odd. Everyone in the metro could at least read simple things like station names and such. Such a thing was vital if you wanted to survive in the metro.

"I don't know. I can't understand what these signs are saying. I don't even think those are actually letters to begin with." Now Artyom was confused of what they were saying. Had they never seen the alphabet before? He snuck closer and hid behind one of the pillars closest to them. What he saw next really surprised him. The long one stretched out is hand and a flame started to erupt in it. He walked to the end of the platform and tried looking in at of the tunnels. Artyom couldn't help gasping when he saw it and immediately covered up his mouth with his hands but the damaged were done. The kids looked at his direction and the one dressed in blue said.

"What was that?" Artyom cursed to himself and tried to figure out a way out of this.

* * *

><p>The group had tried to figure out where they were when they suddenly heard something. Someone gasp, was someone spying on them. Korra and Mako walked up to the pillar were they had heard it with their hands out to make sure they were ready. Asami followed close by and Bolin was all the way in the back of the group. They walked to the other side of the pillar but found nothing.<p>

"Huh, probably was just a ratbat or something." Korra said. Mako looked at the side and could swear he saw something move in the darkness past them.

"Who's there?" Make screamed into the darkness while emitting a large flame in his hand. He walked up to the spot where he saw the dark figure move but once again found nothing. The looked around until they heard something was unsheathed behind them. They immediately turned towards the noise with their hands at the ready and saw a man that wore the strangest clothing they had ever seen but that wasn't important at the time. What really had their attention was that this man was holding a knife at Bolins throat. They readied themselves and had their hands aimed at the mysterious man but they were surprised when the man spoke.

"Don't move any closer or he gets it." The man said in a heavy accent they had never heard before while taking his knife closer to a very nervous looking Bolins throat.

**AN: I first thought about making Artyom and the rest of the metro speak Russian and team avatar spoke English but in the end I couldn't make it work with the rest of the story so if any criticism comes up because of that in the reviews you have just read the reason why. Hope you like the story, please leave a review or a favorite. **


	2. Chapter 2 An unusual encounter

Chapter 2 – An unusual encounter

Artyom stared the teens down and they seemed to have gotten the message. They backed away slowly and put their hands down. Even though they had put them down Artyom did not drop his guard and still had the knife at the chubby ones throat. It was a close one that they would have spotted him and in a frontal assault would be idiotic. Even though they seemed unarmed the long ones ability to create fire just like that put him on edge. Luckily Artyom had years of experience in sneaking past his enemies and it had been a piece of cake to leave his position behind the pillar and sneak behind the group and take the chubby one hostage.

"Who are you?" The woman dressed in blue asked. Artyom looked at her and he could swear she backed away a little from his glance.

"I'm asking the questions here." He said, wearing a neutral face while putting the knife on the chubby ones chin but not hard enough to cause a wound. The teens seemed to tense up again but they let it go. The guy dressed in red said.

"What do you want to know?" Artyom look at the teens and then said.

"Who are you and what are you doing all the way out here?" He asked. They looked at each other and the woman in blue then stepped forward and said.

"I am avatar Korra and these are my friends Mako," She gestured to the guy in red. "Asami," She gestured to the woman in black and red." And the one that you are holding is Bolin." Korra said the last part with venom in her voice.

"P-p-p-pleasure to make your acquaintance sir." The one called Bolin said nervously in Artyoms grip.

"Shut up." Artyom said in a cold tone without taking his eyes of the blue one now known as Korra which made Bolin shut up instantly.

"And for what we are doing here we don't know. We were in Republic city the last minute and then we woke up here." She finished. Artyom looked at her coldly but unknowns to them he was in deep thought. Okay now he knew their names and he believed them when they said they didn't know how they ended up here. Must have gotten in a fight with bandits and then drugged and or knocked out and ended up here. They do that kind of stuff. He had experience with that in the past but what was this Republic city they were talking about. He couldn't recall a place like that in the metro. There was one thing that Artyom did still not understand, what the hell did they mean with avatar? And how did the one called Mako still do that with the fire and his hand.

"I got more questions" He said. Korra looked at him coldly but nodded. Artyom continued to wear a neutral face

"My questions are what the hell do you mean with "the avatar" and how did that guy start a flame in his hand?" Artyom said while referring to Mako. The teens looked at each other in confusion, even Bolin looked confused and then they looked back at him.

"Are you kidding?" Korra said. Artyoms face gave her the answer. "You have never heard of the avatar before and you don't know what bending is?" She said. Artyom shock his head and responded.

"Should I? And what is this bending you mentioned." Were Artyoms answer. Now Korra looked like she would explode.

"Of course you should. I mean how can one not know who the avatar is and don't know what bending is. Everyone knows about bending, it is common knowledge." She practically screamed the last part. Artyom just stood there except this time he wore a face of confusion and surprise. Why did she lash out on him like that? Sure he holds one of her friends hostage but still he asked a question. Korra seemed to calm down after she realized what she had just done. She smiled sheepishly and said a quiet "Sorry". Artyom just kept on staring at her before saying.

"Okay, you didn't have to lash out on me like that I was just asking a friendly question." He said with a smug smile.

"There is nothing friendly of what you are doing with my brother." Mako said with venom in his voice but Artyom kept his cool.

"This is insurance to make sure you don't attack me out in cold blood. You can't be too careful about that in the metro." He said while referring to the still nervous Bolin in his grip. The teens looked at each other and then the one known as Asami said.

"Is there were we are, in this so called metro?" She asked. Artyom still looked like he was cool but in the inside he had exploded.

"What the hell do they mean about that? Have they lived under a rock in their entire life?" He thought to himself. Mako finally lost his cool and decided to speed things up.

"Look this is getting us nowhere. Now give back my brother and I may consider not beating you up to much." Mako said while letting a large flame erupt from each of his hands in threat against the tunnel wanderer.

"Uh, Mako. Maybe you shouldn't doing stuff like that when my life his on the line." Bolin said while sweat started to erupt on his forehead while it felt like the knife was getting closer to his chins breaking point. Artyom stared right into the eyes of the enraged teen and Mako stared right back. None of them would break eye contact until Artyom saw movement behind the teens. He could easily make out the figure of the creature behind them.

Nosalis

"Get down." Artyom suddenly yelled while throwing Bolin to the side and threw his knife in Makos direction. Mako barely jumped to the side and the knife narrowly missed him but struck its target behind him. A roar could be heard behind them and something large falling down on the ground. The teens quickly turned around and wondered what just had happened when they got a good look at the creature. The gasped in surprise while Artyom just walked up to the Nosalis. He had struck exactly where he aimed, right in the throat of the monster which killed it instantly. He bended down and ripped the knife out of the creature and then stood up. Mako took this opportunity to take some revenge on him for almost killing his brother and swung a fist engulfed in fire towards the ranger who had his back at him. Mako thought it would hit home but Artyom was faster. He dodged it with ease and turned around and delivered himself an uppercut on Mako who flew through the air and then fell on the ground with a thud. Mako groaned and looked up only to stare into a barrel. Artyom had taken out his revolver as quick as he could and now aimed down on the dizzy firebender.

"One move and your brain go splat." He said while staring the teen down. Mako didn't know what it was he was holding but complied. The others just stared at what had just happened. Artyom noticed Makos confusion and said.

"Never seen a gun before?" He asked the firebender who looked at him in confusion.

"The thing I'm holding." Artyom added. Mako nodded and Artyom said.

"It's a device that shoots projectiles at supersonic speeds that easily tear through humans flesh and bone." Artyom said while still had his revolver aimed at Mako who now understood the seriousness of the situation. He raised his air in the air in defeat. Artyom stared down on the teen before smiling. He gave a short laugh before holstering his pistol. Mako stared once again in confusion before seeing Artyom stretch his hand down to him. Mako took it and Artyom helped him up.

"Did you really think I would kill a teen?" Artyom said with a amused smile. "It's not what I do. I just wanted to see what you guys were capable of." He said while giving Mako a friendly pad on the back which made him almost lose his balance. Then in an instant Artyom got serious again and said.

"I had to be certain that you guy were a threat or not. And now I have got my answer. I now see that you are just a bunch of lost kids." He said with a smug smile.

"Hey, we're not kids." Korra said irritated to him but Artyom ignored her. He looked towards the dead Nosalis and the others did the same.

"Nosalises rarely hunt alone." He said while the teens got confused by its name. "This one was just a scout which means that its friends could either be close or far away. Either way, we can't take such a chance so I will give you guys a choice. Stay here and wonder what is going on and probably get ripped to shreds or come with me and I take you to the nearest populated station. Either way, it's your choice." Artyom finished. The teens looked at each other and noticed that Artyom had stated walking towards the tunnel. They weighted their options before Korra spoke.

"I guess we don't have a choice." Korra said and sprinted to keep up with the metro dweller. The others hesitated, especially Mako and Bolin but when they saw Asami sprint after they complied as well. Artyom kept on walking in a normal speed when he noticed this and smiled.

"Wise choice." He said to them while the teens wondered what kind of mess they have gotten themselves in now.

**AN: Second chapter is up. If there is any criticism or something else please write them in the reviews. **


	3. Chapter 3 Lost tunnel

Chapter 3 – Lost tunnel

Korra don't know if it was the right choice to follow this strange man. But after seeing that thing and hearing his warning they didn't have much of a choice. They didn't even know where they were and this stranger were so far the only one able to tell them but that still didn't feel like the best choice. They didn't even know his name, which reminded her.

"Hey, we told you our names but what is yours?" She asked the stranger who now had stopped and looked into the tunnel before them but he didn't answer her question but instead he looked like he was concentrating.

"Hey, I asked you a qu…" Korra couldn't finish because the strangers covered her mouth with his hand. The others tensed up towards this action but relaxed a little when the stranger put his finger on his mouth and said.

"Shhhhh" The stranger said while still concentrating on whatever he was trying to find. He then walked to the side of the tunnel to one of the many pipes that ran on the walls and put his ear on one of them. He stood like that for a few seconds before saying.

"They know we are here." He said. The others could not be any more confused than they were now. What did he mean with "they"? The stranger ignored their confused stares and walked slowly through the tunnel with his flashlight on but noticed it started to flicker. He took out a strange device with a lever on and started pumping. The flashlight stopped flicker and return to bright fully. He then put the device away and took out one of his many so called "Guns". They followed him when he suddenly stopped and turned towards them.

"Listen carefully now. You must do whatever I'm telling you now or else…" He looked unsure of how to finish what he was going to say.

"Let's just say that I won't be able to help you if you don't listen." He finished and then turned forward again. The gang could not understand what he meant until a sound was heard further into the tunnel. The sound made the blood freeze up. The sound sounded like to be a mix of child laughter and terrified screams. It went on for five seconds before everything went absolutely quiet again.

"What was that?" Asked a terrified Asami that held on to a surprised Mako. The stranger didn't look at any of them but kept staring into the tunnel before saying.

"That was them." He said as he kept on walking slowly.

"Stay behind me at all times. If I tell you to stop you stop. If I tell you otherwise you follow my orders, got it." He told the teens without looking at them. He just kept staring into the tunnel. He then suddenly stopped and said.

"And for your question before Korra…My name is Artyom." He just then continued on like that with a slow pace. Korra couldn't help but to smile a little now when they finally knew the strangers name even if it was a very weird name by their standards. They continued on for about a minute before Korra suddenly felt a small headache coming up. She put one of her hands on her temple and breathed out. Artyom however noticed this and said.

"You can feel them. That is a rare gift." He kept on walking but now Bolin couldn't help but ask.

"Okay I know that I should not probably talk right now but I must ask. Who are "them"?" He asked Artyom but he didn't answer. Instead he stopped and pointed onwards. The others were confused by this action but looked on what he was pointing at. They all gasped and backed away a little on fear. There stood a shadow of a man but there was no one in front of the shadow. The shadow just looked at what they assumed was in their direction and it seemed to hold something identical of what Artyom was holding, one of these so called "Guns". They all stared in fear when Artyom said.

"The dead lingers here." This earned even more confused stares from his followers. Artyom just kept staring at the ghost and it stared back. Artyom then walked up to the ghost and stopped about a meter from it. The others stayed close behind Artyom, wondering what he was going to do. Artyom then put his hands together and said.

"Ut ad iter pergere ducimus." He said to the shadow. The shadow just kept on staring at them but then moved to the side without a sound. Artyom walked past and said

"Gratias tibi." The others stayed close to Artyom and walked past the shadow looking at it the whole time while the shadow followed them with what they assumed were his eyes. When they had all pass the shadow there was a slight flash which surprised the teens. They looked back were the shadow stood before but found nothing there now.

"Okay that isn't creepy at all." Bolin said in a sarcastic tone. Korra walked up to Artyom who still kept a slow pace and asked.

"What was that?" Artyom stopped and thought about what to tell. He then turned around and looked at her and said.

"I don't know his name but I do know what his mission was. These stations weren't always abandoned. They were once filled with people trying to just live their lives. Building up small societies filled with families and workers, stores and homes but that didn't last long. Soon they were overrun by monsters and mutants. The citizens of these stations fled and soldiers stayed behind trying to hold them of." He looked at were the shadow had stood and continued on with the tale.

"He volunteered as one of the last fighters to hold them of as long as he could…he failed and so many died. Still haunted by the guilt and still loyal to his station and his family he still stands guard. Not letting anything pass by without his permission." He said the last thing with sadness. He then turned towards the direction they have been walking and said.

"This tunnel is filled with the souls of the victims of the evacuation so be prepared for more" He then continued on without another word. The teens looked at him and then were the shadow had been and then back at Artyom. They followed him until he stopped. He pointed onwards and said.

"Concentrate." And then before them they saw another shadow. This shadow was different though. It seemed to be that of a woman. The shadow then sprinted to the side like it was attacked and they heard a woman scream then the shadow disappeared. They looked at were the shadow disappeared and saw a skeleton on the ground. They immediately made the connection and backed away once again in fear. Artyom walked past the skeleton without looking at it and the teens kept on following close by behind him. They walked past more shadows that showed more peoples fates and each and every one was scarier than the other. More skeletons lingered the floor that each shoved the final fates of the shadows. Some shadows didn't show what attacked them and some showed some weird looking creatures shadows attacking the shadows of the humans. Each time a small headache erupted in Korra's head but nothing she couldn't handle. They had walked for a little while now until Mako spoke up.

"Is it ever going to end?" Mako asked Artyom. Artyom didn't answer but just looked in front of him. He then stopped and they knew what that meant. They expected to see another adult shadow but this time it was that of a small boy.

"Mommy?" They heard the boy shadow suddenly say. It then started to walk towards their direction while franticly looking around.

"Mommy?" It said again but this time another shadow joined in behind it. The teens recognized the shadow of the creature back at the station that almost killed Mako, a Nosalis as Artyom called it. The creature then started to sprint towards the child and the boy then started to run in fear.

"MOMMY!" It screamed one last time before the shadows disappeared. Asami couldn't take it anymore. She started to shed a few tears while Bolin started to cry openly. Korra and Mako looked on terrified while Artyom once again stood there with an emotionless face on him.

"Let's keep going, we will soon reach a station were we will take the maintenance route and once in the maintenance room we can set up camp. Don't you worry; we will soon be out of this tunnel. Just keep staying close to me and we will make it." The teens didn't need to be told twice. They raced after Artyom and stayed close by. Soon they saw something in the distance, a light.

"It is not far to Dinamo station now but be prepared. I don't know if they will be there or not." Artyom said while he kept walking. The others once again tensed up in fear of seeing more shadows. The where now near Dinamo station when they suddenly heard voices from the stations direction.

"That was a close one but I'm glad that we made it out of it alive." One voice said.

"Indeed. It was a close one but we made it." Another voice said.

They now arrived at the station and they saw that around a fire two strangers sat and talked to each other. They couldn't see their faces because they had their backs turned at them.

"Hey, there are some humans, alive as well. Finally we are out of there." Bolin said while he was about to walk up to the two strangers but was stopped by Artyom. Artyom then gave him a serious look and said.

"Don't talk to them, don't even make eye contact with them. Just ignore them and keep on walking." He said while he walked past the two strangers. The two strangers just kept talking on talking without noticing the group. The teens followed close to Artyom confused once again when Korra suddenly felt a massive headache erupt. She fell down on her knees and grasped her head with both her hands.

"Korra." Mako said worried.

"AHHHHHH" Korra screamed out in pain. Artyom turned around and looked at the Avatar. He noticed that she was starting too bled out of her noose. Artyom then looked at the two strangers and then back at the group of teens.

"We need to get out of here now." He said while picking up the bleeding Avatar and carried her towards one of the door of the maintenance room, the other teens followed close behind him. He kicked the door open and sprinted in. the group followed but before Asami could enter she looked back at the two Strangers who still sat there and she could hear one of them say.

"It is good to be alive." He said before he and his companion turned and looked at her. She gasped when she saw their faces. Their eyes were completely white and their faces were covered in blood. She screamed and slammed the door behind her when she was in the room with the others. She leaned at the door and breathed heavily. She looked at the others and saw that that they stared at her in confusion except for Artyom who knew what she saw. Asami then looked around the room and took in the details of it. It was a small room with a couple of mattresses on the floor and a table in the middle. There was an oil lamp on it and there were as well a couple of lockers on the side of the walls that was closed. There were also a couple of boxes with unknown content in them. She breathed heavily and put her face in the palm of her hands.

"I can't take any more of this." She said while her face was still buried in her hands she fell on her knees. Artyom looked at her and walked over to her. He noticed that tears started to stream down on her face. Artyom bend down to her level and hugged her. This action got a surprised look from everyone, especially Asami.

"SHHHH, it's okay. They get to everyone. The first time I saw them I got a…similar reaction." He said in a comforting tone, really different from the emotionless tone he has been using almost the entire time. Asami looked at him, still with tears in her eyes and then hugged back. When she was younger she was thought to be daddy's little defenseless girl but she have always been though and always found a way out of a situation. She had never really needed a guardian to look after her. But this time she didn't know what to do. She now felt like the little defenseless little girl that she was called when she was smaller. But this man, Artyom, felt safe. He felt like a real guardian that would defend her till the very end. Asami calmed down and the tears stopped coming. They broke the hug and Artyom stood up again.

"Now when that is taken care of." He looked around the room at the others.

"I would really like some explanations about all of you. Start with; how the hell did you guys end up all the way out there?" Korra picked herself up from the floor. The headache had now disappeared. Korra looked at Artyom and glared.

"Hey, we want some explanations as well. Who are you and what is this place?" Korra demanded to know from the taller man. Artyom stared down at her and she stared right back up at him. Artyom kept on staring until he smiled and started to laugh. Korra looked on confused until Artyom spoke.

"I like you, you're though and I respect that. Very well, let's make a deal, shall we" He said which earned even more confused stares from the teens.

"How about you tell me now everything I want to know and as soon as we reach Belorusskaya I tell YOU everything you want to know. How does that sound to you?" He said while looking down on Korra. Korra thought of it before saying.

"Before I give you my answer, what is this uhm…Belorusskaya place?" She asked while having trouble pronouncing the name correctly. Artyom mentally slapped himself for not mentioning it earlier. He sighed and said.

"It's the place that we are currently heading towards. It's a populated station were we can be safe from the mutants and monsters that roam the tunnels. To go there we must cross the surface and there every step you take could be your last. We will reach the surface through that door" He finished while pointing at the door located in the opposite direction of the other door that they entered through and then looked at his watch.

"It is still nighttime up there so going up to the surface now would be suicide so we have a lot of time to spend down here until dawn." He said while sitting down on a chair that were located in the room and looked at the teens.

"So start explaining, who you guys are and what are you doing here and how do you do that stuff with fire and what not?" He said while giving them a glare that said that he was serious. Korra looked at her friends and sighed.

"Okay, I will tell you but you must promise us that you will tell us everything we want to know as soon as we reach this station." She said to the metro dweller.

"Of course, ranger's word. I stand by it till the day I die. And yes, that means that I'm going to tell you everything you want to know." Artyom finished. Korra sighed and began explaining.

"Okay, as you know my name is Korra and my friends names are Bolin Asami and Mako and we are called team avatar where we are from and there is also something known as bending as well…"

* * *

><p>"…and then a portal opened up and we were sucked into it and then we woke up on that station and then you found us." Korra finished her story. Artyom just sat there with a neutral face but his mind was working overtime. Everything he had just heard just sounded so ridiculous and weird. An entire world populated by humans, untouched by war at the time. People with strange abilities able to bend the elements to their will, if he hadn't seen it all by himself. The abilities from these teens, the fact that they were so far away from any populated station without knowing how they got there and so on and last, he was a man who had learned over the years to see if someone was lying but when he listened on to Korra's entire story he just knew that the story was just to detailed to be made up. He sat there quiet for a few moments until.<p>

"I believe you." Was all he said. Korra let out a sigh that he actually believed them

"You story is interesting and correct me now if I'm wrong. So from your world you are what is called "the Avatar" who is able to manipulate or "bend" all the elements." He said while pointing at Korra. Korra nodded. He then looked at Mako and Bolin.

"You two are so called "regular" benders that are able to bend one element and Mako can bend fire while Bolin can bend the earth itself." He said to the two brothers and both nodded. He then looked at Asami.

"And you are what is called a nonbender that are not able to bend any elements at all." He said and just like the others Asami nodded. Artyom laughed a little and said.

"Well, on this world you would be considered normal. We don't have bending to rely on. Instead we developed advanced technology but in the end it seemed like it would be our undoing." He said the last thing with sadness. The others looked at one another when Mako spoke up.

"What do you mean by that?" He said. Artyom looked at the ground and said.

"You will see soon enough when we will go up on the surface. There are still a couple of hours until we can go up. Try to get some rest in the meantime." He said while he looked away. The others looked at each other but did as they were told. They lay down on the mattresses and tried to sleep a little. Except for Bolin who said.

"Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving." Artyom took off his backpack and looked through it. He soon found what he was looking for.

"Here, catch." He said and threw a piece of meat to Bolin. Bolin catched it in the air and started to happily chew on it.

"Mmmm, this is good. What kind of meat is it?" He asked.

"Well, you know that Nosalis that I stopped from killing your brother." Artyom said. Bolin stopped chewing and looked down on the meat before shrugging and continuing. Before she tried to sleep, Asami looked at the happily chewing Bolin before looking at Artyom.

"Artyom?" She asked. Artyom looked at her.

"I have a question. Why do you help us so much, you could have easily just left us at that station to our own demise but you didn't, why?" She asked curious. The others now wanted to know as well. Artyom just sat there on his chair and thought of it.

"I don't do that. I try to help where I can. I have done stuff in the past that I'm not proud of and I'm doing anything that I can to make up for it. So it doesn't matter whatever you come from. I could not just leave you out there to die." He said while looking at Asami and smiling weakly.

"And before you ask, I'm not doing this for a reward but out of good will." He finished and Asami looked satisfied with his answer. Soon it was quiet in the room and what could only be heard was the snoring of Bolin. Korra felt that something was of and weakly opened her eyes and noticed that Artyom still sat on the chair and looked to be deep in thought.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" He asked him. Artyom looked at her and smiled.

"I don't sleep often. Don't you worry about me." He said. She was too tired to argue and closed her eyes. Artyoms smiled disappeared and he went back to his thought.

What am I going to do? They don't deserve to be here. How am I going to show them what happened to this world and how are they going to get back to their world? This is a real mess they have end up in. so many questions and so few answers. If only Khan was here. He would probably know what to do. But now he isn't here. We'll just have to wait and see how this play out. He thought before taking a hold of his Kalash and started to look over it for any malfunction or other problems.

"Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day." He said quiet to himself.


	4. Chapter 4 Dead world

Chapter 4 – Dead world

A couple of hours later

Artyom still sat in his chair, watching over the teens. He had looked over his equipment and found no big problems. He raised his arm and looked at his watch and saw that it was past noon. He sighed and lowered his arm down.

"Well, let's get this over with." He said to himself. He lifted himself of the chair and walked over to the closest teen with happened to be Korra. He kicked her a little with his boot and she started to stir.

"Up and dandy. There is no time like the present." He said to the groggy avatar. She raised herself from her makeshift bed and yawned and stretched her arms. She opened her eyes and saw Artyom going around waking the others. Soon all of them were awake.

"Man, I'm hungry. When are we going to have breakfast?" Bolin said while yawning.

"We will eat as soon as we reach Belorusskaya. Now, let's prepare for the surface." He said while walking towards the lockers and boxes in the room.

"Why do we need to prepare, isn't it just going up?" Mako asked.

"Njet, the temperatures are freezing up there. You're going to need some extra clothes otherwise you will just freeze to death. Check that locker, pick what you like." He said while pointing at one particular locker. The teens walked over to it and opened it. Inside the locker hung a couple of jackets. Mako took one out and saw that it had a sickly green on it.

"Oh, can I have that one?" Bolin asked his brother. Mako sighed and gave it to him. They looked through the locker but Asami wondered what Artyom was looking for in the boxes. She walked towards him when Artyom suddenly said.

"Aren't you going to pick a jacket?" He asked without looking up from the box he was currently checking. Asami stopped next to him and responded.

"I don't really need to. The clothes I wear now are just fine." She said while hinting towards the black and red bodysuit she was wearing.

"I just wondered what you was looking through." She said. Artyom didn't respond but said only.

"I know that it is going to lie here somewhere…aha, here it is." He said while picking up a large rectangular wooden box that was located between the larger boxes. He put it on the table and opened it up. Asami looked on the content of the box and got a little confused. It was filled with six masks with the front being mostly covered in glass and a big hole at the bottom of it. Now when she comes to think about it she reckon that Artyom have a similar mask on his backpack. She checks Artyoms back and sees the a similar mask hang from the backpack but this one had a big circular thing strapped on where the hole should be. She finally decided to ask.

"What are these?" She asked while pointing at the masks in the box.

"Gasmasks, help me find the filters to them." He said and walked back to the boxes. Asami looked at Artyom in confusing. Is that what these were? She remembered the equalist wearing something that they called a gasmask but these were nothing like the ones she had seen. She looked at the others and saw that they had picked different clothes. Mako was wearing a red jacket that had seen better days. Bolin was going around the dirty green one and Korra had picked also a green one but it seemed smaller than Bolin's. She looked at Artyom and saw that he came with a large sack. He put the sack on the table and she saw that a lot of those circular things were inside of it. Now the others had gathered around as well and looked confused at the masks.

"Good thing that they didn't managed to get all the supplies when they evacuated the stations. Alright everyone pick a mask and take at least three filters each. That should be enough for a trip on the surface to the station." Artyom said while handing out filters to the teens.

"Why would we need a mask?" Mako asked while picking up one and exanimating it. Artyom looked at Mako and said.

"The air is poisonous for the unmutated gene which includes humans. Without these you will suffocate in seconds." He said in a serious tone. The teens looked down at the masks

"This is how these work." He said while picking one up to show how it's done.

"You take a filter and you screw it on in the hole of the mask. You can then breathe up on the surface but as soon as you feel that it gets harder to breathe you can either switch to another filter or use up the whole filter that you are currently using. You will now when it's all used up when you suddenly feel unable to breathe. You must then switch to another filter quickly. The filters have enough clean air for about three to five minutes but we shouldn't have to worry about running out of air. There is going to be a lot of filters scattered across the surface. Alright, let's get going." Artyom said and picked up is Kalash that was resting at the wall and started to walk towards the door that led to the surface. The others picked up a mask each and screwed on the filters on them and followed him. Artyom opened the door and a stairway was seen. They walked up on it and continued to follow it until they reached another door. Artyom put on his gasmask and the teens did it as well. Artyom had his weapon at the ready and opened the door carefully. He took in his surroundings and saw nothing wrong.

"Okay, all clear. Let's move out." He said through the gasmask and walked through the door. The teens followed closely behind him and soon found themselves in a large room. They looked around and saw broken windows and that the roof had fallen inwards. They saw that the floor was littered with debris that consisted of stone and glass. They saw Artyom going slowly through the room towards a couple of large doors that they assumed was the way out. Artyom slowly opened the doors and walked out, the teens followed him. When they reach the outside they all gasped. The building that they were currently in had pillars and they saw a large road lying outside on the opposite side of the building littered with wrecks of what they assumed were their versions of Satomobiles. They saw large apartment and office buildings on both side of the road. They saw in the horizon large skyscrapers that could rival the largest buildings in Republic city. It was truly a sight to see but the thing that caught their attention the most was the state the city was in, it was all in ruins. The buildings had fallen apart and it was all grey and dull. The streets had become large holes filled with water and to their left they saw what a forest was once but were now filled with dead trees. Some places had spots of green but most of the city was covered in snow. They looked up into the sky and saw large black clouds the blocked the sun. Artyom had said it was past noon but yet if felt like it was night. They were truly at a loss of words.

"I…I…" Korra tried saying something but she couldn't get the words out.

"It is a horrible sight, I know." Artyom said what Korra tried to say. They saw that he walked out of the building into the open and looked around.

"This is what I meant that technology brought this on our world." He said almost shouting to the teens that still stood in the doorway of the building that they came from.

"You are currently looking at the city of Moscow. Once the great and beautiful capital of a once proud and powerful nation called Russia. Now it but a shadow of its former beauty and no human can live here without fear of being eaten by the monsters that now live in our former home. We now live down there in the underground tunnels of the metro like rats. But one day, we will take back the surface and we don't have to live in fear anymore.

"What happened to this world?" Bolin asked in disbelief. Artyom looked down on the ground and said with a sad tone.

"War…war happened." He said. Asami walked up to Artyom and put her hand on his shoulder and said in a concern tone.

"I know that war can be destructive but how could a war cause this kind of damage." Asami asked still in disbelief. Artyom was just about to answer when a roar could be heard in the distance and the flapping of wings. Artyom quickly tensed up to the sound, he knew it all too well.

"Quickly, back into the building." He practically yelled and he ran back to the building were the teens were standing. He hid behind a pillar and the teens did the same. They looked at the direction of the roar and gasped. A large flying creature flew in and landed on building on the opposite side of the road. It started to scan the area and looked around while sniffing. The teens stared in disbelief at the creature.

"What is that?" Korra asked in fear. Artyom stared at the beast and readied is weapon.

"A demon" Was all he said. The others stared on him and then back at the creature.

"A What?" Mako asked in disbelief.

"Large predatory creatures that hunt everything that moves. It is on top of the food chain in most part of the city. They are hard to evade and even harder to kill. If we meet the beast in the open, quickly run into the nearest hole as fast as possible. If you get captured by it you are as good as dead. Stick to the shadows and we will get out of this alive." Artyom finished. The Demon still sat on the roof and looked around. It started to sniff in their direction and then started to growl.

"It knows that we are here. This will be harder than a thought." But as soon as the beast and come it left. It started to fly away in the opposite direction of the station. The group left their cover and moved out into the open.

"Alright, the entrance to Belorusskaya station is about a mile down the road. We must hurry if we want to get there before our filters run out." Artyom said while pointing towards southeast.

"We can take cover amongst the trees to our left. Then we must cross a road that has now been turned into a river. So we must find a way across. Then we will walk through a row of buildings and as long as we stay in them we will be fine from demons but keep a watch out for other critters that live in them. They can be just as dangerous but first." He said and walked towards a corpse of a man that was resting on crashed car. He walked up to it and said.

"A stalker, these guys goes up to the surface every day in hope of finding that one unopened safe in the bottom of an irradiated hole. However while their job is dangerous it pays well. From simple toys to paintings to spare parts to sophisticated military hardware they get paid really well for everything they bring down into the metro. If you run out of ammo and supplies, just look for the bodies of these poor guys and there should be no problem. This is what I meant that we would not have much trouble with filters. I got to give this guy credit though. He came pretty far outside of the populated section of the metro. And here we got what I'm looking for." He finished and picked something up.

"Hey Asami, catch." He said and threw something to Asami. Asami clumsy caught it and looked down at what it was she was holding. It appeared to be a gun but it was so different from that one that Artyom was holding. While his was more streamlined and seemed to have been manufactured using produced parts, this one seemed to be made out of spare and missformed parts.

"What is this?" Asami asked while holding the strange looking weapon in her hand.

"It's called the bastard gun. It has accuracy like shit and overheats easily, a perfect beginner's weapon." Artyom said with a smirk. Asami glared at him. Asami then looked down on the gun in her hands and studied it closer.

"Uh…how does it work?" She asked through the gasmask. Artyom walked up to her and showed her.

"Alright, a quick crash course of this gun. You pull the trigger to fire and when it needs to be reloaded you take out the old magazine like this." He took out the magazine that was currently in the gun.

"And you put a new one in like this." He put the magazine back into the gun.

"And if it is completely empty you have to pull back the trigger to put a bullet into the chamber of the gun. Be sure to fire in short burst or otherwise the gun will overheat fast. If it overheats pull that plug at the back of the gun the let the heat out. After that you should be able to us it again with no problem. "He finished. Asami studied the gun some more and then looked at Artyom again.

"What kind of ammo does it use?" She asked. One thing she had noticed was that these so called guns used different kind of projectiles or bullets as Artyom called them and wanted to know what this one used for kind of caliber.

"It uses the 5:45 caliber rounds that are very commonly found in this wasteland. Here, have some ammo." He said and gave her a spare magazine which she took and put into her pockets.

"It will use them up fast thanks to its high fire rate so pick your targets carefully. Alright, if there is no other questions people let's get a move out." Artyom ordered and then started to sprint towards the dead forest. The teens followed him through the forest until they reached the road on the other side and just like Artyom had said there was now a river in their way.

"With most of the snow melting all the water must go somewhere." Artyom said while looking for a way across.

"Last time I crossed it I used a bus as a makeshift bridge but now it seems that it has fallen into the water so we can't use it." He said in deep though.

"Why not just swim across?" Bolin asked.

"You don't know what lives in the water Bolin. You want to be eaten?" He asked the earthbender. Bolin nervously shook his head in response. Artyom looked around and found a truck that was halfway into the water but it was high enough to use as a jumping point.

"We can use that truck to get across." Artyom said while pointing at said truck. The teens looked first confused but soon understood what he meant. Artyom was the first to climb up on it and then sprinted and jumped and landed on the other side of the river. Korra was next and without problem she was across as well. Asami jumped as well without problems and then it was Mako who came across without problems as well. Bolin still stood atop the truck and looked down onto the water before looking on the group on the other side.

"Are you sure that we just can't swim across?" He asked a second time.

"Just jump Bolin, what's the worst that can happen?" Korra said. Bolin gulped and jumped. He landed on the other side without any problems.

"See, I told you it was not danger." Korra said to her friend. Bolin nodded to this but before anyone could say anything else a large green creature jumped out of the water and grabbed Bolin with one of its giant claws and dragged him down. Bolin didn't even have time to yell out in surprise before he found himself under water.

"BOLIN!" Mako yelled and fired of a large flame out of his hand towards the creature but it just hit nothing. Artyom stared on in wonder at Mako's ability to cause fire from nowhere but soon shock himself out of it and saw that Bolin got dragged down fast. Mako tried to stop it but it was too late. It had disappeared into the water with Bolin but just as quickly as the creature had come up Artyom jumped in after with his knife drawn. He as well disappeared below the water and silence was soon al that could be heard. The remaining three stood there in shock and waited. The saw bubbles come up until they stopped and a large spot of blood covered the surface.

"No" Mako said while getting a tear in his eye. Korra and Asami stood there in shock until something broke the surface on the water. Bolin and Artyom threw themselves out of the water and onto dry land. Both was lying on the ground and breathed heavily in their gasmasks.

"BOLIN" Mako said in happiness and hugged his little brother who was currently trying to stand up. Korra and Asami sprinted over to Artyom to check on his condition.

"How do you feel?" Korra asked with a concern tone. Artyom looked at her and said.

"I'll be fine. Be glad that it wasn't bigger. You don't know how big those things can get, believe me I know." He said to the concern teens. They smiled at him and Korra helped him up.

"What happened in there?" Asami asked.

"I managed to grab on to its tail before it got away too far. I then stabbed it in the right arm so it let Bolin go and then I helped him up to the surface." Artyom said to the young inventor. Mako looked at his brother and then back at Artyom. He walked up to Artyom and said.

"Thank you for saving my brother." He said. Artyom smiled under his mask and responded.

"Don't mention it. I did what I had to too. Like a "friend" ones told me. We are all brothers in the metro." He said while pronouncing the word friend with venom in his voice. The teens looked confused but decided it could wait. He stood up straight and picked up his gun that he threw to the side.

"What was that?" Korra Asked referring to the creature while looking at the water.

"We call the shrimps. We do not know where they came from. They suddenly started to appear when the ice melted and rivers were formed but they are the main reason why we should try to stay out of the water. They are dangerous but they are tasty, especially with beer." Artyom responded. He then started to walk towards the buildings on their side of the river. The teens followed close by. They entered the buildings and walked through them without any big complications. After a few minutes they had covered a lot of ground and were closer to the station. All this time the teens have followed close behind Artyom. Along the way they found more corpses of the unfortunate that have died on the surface and stashes of ammo and other supplies. Even thought that the city lied in ruins the teens couldn't help but feel fascinated by the technological wonders that they found in the buildings they passed. While they didn't work Artyom explained with his limited knowledge of what they were and what they could do. There was stuff that was called computers and other things that was called a TV. There were much more advanced versions of telephones and there were things that were called cellphones. They had never seen stuff like that before and were more than fascinated by hearing of them. They could only imagine how they worked by going after was Artyom had told them. Each of these inventions would give Sato industries a run for its money. After a few more moments Artyom spoke up.

"Alright, it shouldn't be too far to the station now. We will be there within short. We have been lucky so far. There appears not to be too many mutants out but that is a way I prefer." He said. While walking through one of the offices in the buildings the group suddenly felt a small headache coming up.

"Hey, do you guys feel that as well?" Bolin said while rubbing his head.

"Yeah, it feels weird." Asami responded.

"I feel tired." Mako said while finding it harder to stay awake.

"Me too" Korra said while finding it hard to walk in a straight line. Artyom himself experienced a small headache when his eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Oh no" He said quiet to himself.

"We need to get out of this building now!" He yelled to the others. He started to sprint to the end of the room they were currently in but the teens stayed behind until they fell down on the ground. He looked back and once again realized what was going on. He ran up to the teens and grabbed on to the now unconscious Korra and shook her, trying to wake her.

"Snap out of it, wake up." He yelled to her but it was no use. She closed her eyes and started to breathe heavily.

* * *

><p>Korra found herself suddenly someplace unfamiliar but on the same time familiar. She had no idea how she suddenly ended up here. She blinked a few times and took in her new surroundings. It looked like the room she was in a few moments ago but this one looked all clean and colorful. She noticed that she was sitting behind a desk and was typing on what looked like a keyboard but what was stranger was the thing the keyboard was connected to. It wasn't a typing machine but it looked like one of the computers that Artyom mentioned before. The screen showed what she was typing but she couldn't understand was she was typing. She tried to stop but couldn't. She found herself unable to move on her own. She could just witness what was happening.<p>

"Hey Tatiana, did you finish those files?" She could suddenly hear someone say in an accent similar to Artyom. She looked up and saw a man that was dressed in a fancy suit walk up to where she was sitting.

"I have indeed Mr. Korlov. I have them right here." She suddenly said but the voice that was coming out of her mouth was not her own. It was more mature then hers indicating that whoever she currently is, was an adult but it was female none the less. She stood up and handed a few papers to the man.

"Spasibo" The man said when he took the files and then looked through them. She stood still and waited for the man to stop looking through the files when her head was turned towards the window. She could now see out and her eyes went mentally wide. The entire outside world had changed as well. There were now green trees on the sidewalks and birds were flying through the air. The street was filled with vehicles and people filled the sidewalks. It looked like Republic city in so many ways but more advanced. She then looked back at the man that was still going through the papers. Her gazing was interrupted suddenly when a loud alarm erupted on the outside. Both she and the man looked at the window and looked out. She could see that the people on the sidewalks looked around as well in confusion.

"Eh, probably a military exercise or something, nothing to worry about." The man said when suddenly another sound could be heard. Korra looked at the sound and saw large cylinder objects being launched into the sky. They climbed into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds. Suddenly panic erupted on the streets and people started to sprint in all directions. She looked back at the man and he now looked terrified and then he screamed.

"IT'S FOR REAL, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES." He then started to run towards the door when suddenly a blinding light erupted. She covered her eyes but she managed to peak through her fingers. Her eyes widened when she saw it. A large mushroom shaped fire cloud was seen and the shockwave that tore through everything. It came closer and closer destroying everything in its way. She saw that people ran for their lives but got burned right there and turned into ash on the spot. She saw that her hand started to boil and she could feel the pain. Entire buildings crumbled and vehicles fell over by the shockwave. She didn't even have time to scream until she heard.

"WAKE UP!"

Korra snapped her eyes open and threw herself up while breathing heavily. She took in her surroundings and saw that she was back in the same room as she was before, all grey and dull. She saw Artyom looking down on her with a concern look on her face. She looked around and saw that the others were waking up as well. She looked at Artyom with a confused look and said.

"What happened? I saw some kind of hallucination." Artyom smiled under his mask and said.

"You got hit by a vision from the past. I have been through the same thing. That's how I knew what was going on." He finished and helped Korra up on her feet. The others got up as well and looked around confused.

"The metro isn't the only place haunted by the dead. Here on the surface the oldest ones still roam. They have been here since the war, living their last moments in life. I don't know what you just witnessed but you just saw the last moments of that person's life before he or she died. These "hallucinations" are almost everywhere on the surface. Some are harmless, you are still awake when they happen but you witness the last moments through your eyes. Some are more dangerous like this one. You fall unconscious on the ground and suffocate if you don't wake up soon. " Artyom said while looking over the teens. The teens looked at each other until Asami spoke.

"I was in this very room before it got destroyed and I was woman named Tatiana and I witness a huge explosion and…the destruction of this city." She said the last bit uncomfortable and the others looked at her.

"You were her as well? I didn't want to say anything because I find it awkward that I was a girl for a short period of time but still I saw it to." Bolin said while Mako face palmed at his brothers silliness. Artyom couldn't help but smile at the earthbender's humor.

"Alright, let's leave this building unless you want another vision." He said and started to exit the room. The others followed close by without hesitation. They soon exited the building and soon found themselves in what was once a playground. They continued carefully until they heard a howl in the distance and the ground shock a little.

"Shit, get behind something now!" Artyom said and the group took cover behind the wreck of a van that had crashed into the monkey bars. The teens wondered now what was going to happen when they saw a large pack of weird looking creatures run past them without noticing them. They sprinted on their four legs and had small patches of fur on their bodies and their mouths were filled with razor sharp teeth's.

"What are those things?" Korra asked in a whisper to Artyom.

"Watchmens, don't let them see us or we get ripped to shreds." Artyom said while holding tight onto his weapon. The teens looked nervously at the pack as it ran by. The pack was huge and it kept on running past them for about twenty seconds. The whole pack had soon passed by them but they noticed that one had stayed behind. They saw the cause of it. It had found the body of a dead person and decided to snack on it. It had its back to them and Artyom looked out from behind the van.

"We can't sneak past it, its hearing and keen of smell is just too good so it will notice us with ease but we can't just take it out right on. It will warn its friends of us and they will come running to us." Artyom weighed their options when an idea sprung up in his head. He took out a blue knife and held it in its tip

"Let's just hope that my aim is still as good." He said and threw it. It struck the creature right in the back of its neck and killed it instantly. Artyom said a quiet yes and then spoke to the teens.

"Alright, let's move." Artyom ordered the group and they started to walk across the playground. They were almost over to the other side when a roar could be heard behind them and the flapping of large wings.

"DEMON! We got to hurry." Artyom yelled while he started to sprint towards a hole in the wall on the building in front of them and just like he had said, said demon appeared and spotted the group. It flew down on an attack approach with its claws at the ready. The group was almost at the hole in the wall when the demon was upon them. It grabbed a hold on Bolin and lifted him up in the air.

"AHHHHHHH not again." Bolin screamed. The group looked on in horror when the demon flew away with their teammate.

"No" Mako yelled and fired fireball after fireball towards the flying creature but they all missed the creature who evaded them.

"Allow me to try." Artyom said and fired with his Kalash at the flying beast. The teens had to cover their ears because of the sound it gave out. This was the first time they saw a gun in action and they noticed how the bullets flew through the air and pierced the demons skin. The said demon roared in pain and tried to get away from the shooting ranger. Soon the flying beast disappeared behind the buildings and was out of their sight.

"No" Make said again but with a lower voice. The girls stared in disbelief and Artyom walked up to Mako and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Mako, I am so sorry." Mako shrugged his hand of and turned to Artyom.

"We must save him." He said to the ranger.

"There is nothing we can do. He is done for." Artyom said and reloaded his weapon before starting to walk towards the hole in the wall without saying another word. The teens looked on in surprise and Mako sprinted up to Artyom and grabbed on to his arm.

"Woah, woah. What do you mean by that? We must at least try. We can't just leave him. Listen, I'm not going to leave my Br…" Mako said but was interrupted by Artyom who turned to Mako and said.

"Listen Mako, no one has ever been saved from a successful demon attack before. Do you think this is the first demon attack I have seen? I know what happens to those who get grabbed by a demon. They almost snap your back in half and claw at you if you try to resist. If they manage to carry you of out of ones reach then you are as good as dead. That demon probably lives on one of these rooftops. It's like finding a nail in a haystack and we don't have enough of filters for such a search." Artyom said while staring the older brother down.

"I am truly sorry but there is nothing we can do to save him." Artyom finished and started to walk towards the hole again but was stopped by the two females of the group.

"We will not leave Bolin behind." Korra said with a determent tone with her arms crossed, Asami nodded. Artyom stared at the two girls and then back at the firebender before sighting in defeat.

"Well, there is a first time for everything." Artyom said quietly.

"Okay, we will have to search fast but when our filter supplies are running low we must abort, understand." He said to the teens. They looked at each other and then nodded.

"Alright let's go, it headed this way." He said while he and the teens started to walk towards the direction were the demon had flew of in.


	5. Chapter 5 More suprises

Chapter 5 – More surprises

"Now listen, I taste awful. I mean, I'm very bony and all, you will not get a good meal out of me. How about you let me back to my friends and we forget this whole ordeal." Bolin said while he desperately tried to convince the beast to not eat him. The demon flew towards the rooftop of one of the apartment buildings and released Bolin. He fell on his back with a thud on the ground.

"Ow" He said while rubbing his back. The demon landed in front of him and Bolin looked up at the demon in fear. The beast was huge in comparison to Bolin, easily five times bigger than him. The beast growled and started to walk towards Bolin who backed away in fear. The beast lounged at him but he managed to jump out of the way. The demon roared and tried to attack again. Bolin once again jumped out of the way but noticed that he was running out of rooftops. He looked behind him and saw the ground far down and then back at the demon. It walked slowly up towards him growling but Bolin decided he wouldn't go down without a fight. He raised his arms and said.

"Bring it on." The beast roared and charged him. He punched the air and a large piece on concrete flew up from the roof and hit it right in the face. The demon backed away, clearly surprised by the attack. It shocks its head and looked at Bolin again with rage in its eyes. It roared again and charged. Bolin repeated the attack but this time with a much larger piece of concrete. Even though concrete was much harder to bend then regular earth he could still bend some of it. It slammed right in the demons face again and it roared in pain. It charged again towards Bolin but he managed to jump out of the way. The demon flew right past him and of the roof. It got surprised that it were no longer on solid ground but it spread its wings and started to fly. Bolin saw this has his chance and started to look around for a way of the roof. He saw a ladder on the other side and started to sprint towards it with the demon hot on his trail. He screamed like a little girl until he reached the ladder and started to climb down. When he had reached a safe distance he looked up and saw the demon looking down on him.

"Ha ha. Try and get me now." He said mockingly. The demon roared at him and then looked at the ladder and then back at him. Bolin could swear that he saw the demon smirk. Bolin's eyes widened when he realized what the demon was thinking.

"Oh no you don't." Bolin said in a threatening tone but it was to no use. The demon started to claw at the twenty year old ladder and Bolin saw that it would not last long. He started to race down the ladder but about half way down it gave away. It fell apart and Bolin gave out a surprised yelp when he now found himself in free fall. Bolin looked down and noticed water under him and before he could think another though he splashed through it. He took in his new surroundings and saw that he was indeed under water. He swam to the surface and took a deep breath of fresh air through the filter of his gasmask. He started to swim towards the closest shore until he heard something swim behind him. He looked back and his pupils went small. One of those large shrimps swam towards him. He screamed like a little girl again and started to race towards the shore. The shrimp was taken back by how fast he started to swim away. Bolin soon reached the shore and climbed out of the water as fast as he could. He sprinted away from the water and saw that the shrimp didn't follow but roared at him and dove underwater. He let out a deep breath when he noticed it got harder to breath. The filter was starting to give out so he reached out for his pocket. He looked through it when his eyes widened in fear. There was nothing there. The filters must have fallen out.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no." He said while pacing back and forth.

"Wait" He said when suddenly an idea came up in his mind.

"Artyom said that the surface was littered with the bodies of people that had died. There must be some of them in this area and some of them must have a couple of spare filters." He said when he started to look around. He entered a building close by and looked through the rooms. He soon came to a far hallway but he was running out of time. He noticed that it got harder and harder to breathe for every breath I took. When he walked down the hallway he noticed something, the dead body of one of these so called watchmen. He walked up to it and saw that it was located in the doorframe of a room. He looked in the room and saw a couple of more of these watchmen dead on the ground but in the far end of the room he saw a dead person. It had a cracked gasmask that was missing a filter and cartridges littered the floor indicating that this person didn't go down without a fight. A weapon was lying at its feet that looked kind of strange in comparison to the others he had seen.

"Jackpot" He said quiet to himself. He sprinted up to the dead body and looked through its supplies. He noticed that it had a backpack at the side of him and he started to look through it.

"Bingo" He said and picked out a couple of spare filters it had in its backpack. He took a filter and switched it out with his old one. He calmed down when he could breathe normally again. He decided to take the backpack but he also would like a souvenir of his adventure. He looked at the body and noticed that was something around its throat. He took it out and saw that it was a necklace with a small plate that had the same mark as Artyoms helmet. On the backside was the strange writing again that Artyom could read. He decided to keep the necklace and see what Artyom had to say about it. He then looked at the weapon on the ground and thought that it looked kind of cool. He bended down and picked up the weapon of the ground. He studied it in his hands. It looked no were near identical to the gun either Artyom or Asami was using. It must be a brand new gun. He had listened in on what Artyom had taught Asami of firearms and studied it closer. Its magazine appeared to be on top of the gun and he could pull the trigger under it. He saw that its magazine was almost full when he heard a growling behind him. He looked behind him and saw a lone watchmen looking at him, showing him its fangs.

"Oh, crud" He said to himself. Bolin stood completely still while locking eyes with the creature. It then charged and Bolin didn't think but fired the gun away. He closed his eyes and almost fell over by the knockback of the weapon. He heard something yelp and opened his eyes. There at his feet the watchmen was lying dead. The let out a deep breath and walked around the corpse of the dead mutant. When he walked out into the hallway he saw something run past at the end of it. He raised an eyebrow and walked to the end of the hallway to check it out. When he reached it he found nothing until he suddenly heard children laughter. He almost jumped out of his skin and realized what it could mean, that the dead could be here.

"Got to be careful, got to remember what Artyom said." He said to himself while walking carefully out of the building. He noticed that this was not the same way he had entered and saw that he had reached another playground. He looked around until he could hear the child laughter again and then suddenly a flash that made him close his eye. When he opened them up again they immediately went wide. The playground was suddenly whole again and it was daytime without a single cloud in the sky. Children was running around and playing while their parents looked on. They didn't seem to mind that he stood in the middle of it all. He looked around and saw the green and beautiful trees and he could hear the city in the background, not to different from the sound of Republic city. He almost took of his gasmask because he thought that it was safe to breathe when Artyoms advice came up in his head.

"Some visions are harmless. You just witness the last moments through your own eyes." He could hear Artyoms words inside his head. He stopped himself and just as quickly the vision had come it disappeared in a similar flash. He now found himself again in the middle of the destroyed playground and looked around. When he looked forward his eyes widened so large that if any bigger they would almost cover up his entire face. There on the other side of the playground stood a tall creature that he had never seen before. It stood on its hind legs and was almost twice as tall as he. It had black and dark greyish skin. Its arms almost touched the ground and on its face it had some weird trunk looking thing. It looked at him with curious eyes and tilted its head to the side. Bolin stood completely still, too freighted to do anything. They stood and looked at each other until the creature just simply vanished into thin air, if Bolin was afraid before he was now completely terrified. What was that and how did it do that. He had to ask Artyom that later on. He looked around and found an alleyway that led to the streets. He walked through it and soon found himself at the side of the destroyed road.

"Hmm, were to go?" He asked himself. He looked around and sighed. He took his chances and walked out in a random direction of the street, hoping that it was the right one.

* * *

><p>The group had been searching for a while now for their missing teammate but had come up with nothing. They have tried to reach most of the rooftops but with fallen stairways and ladders everywhere that was proven to be quite a problem.<p>

"We must keep searching. We can't give up now." Make said to the rest of the group. The group had reached the streets close to Belorusskaya which the demon conveniently flew of in. Artyom walked up to Mako and said.

"Mako, we can't continue searching. Our filters are running low. We must go to the station before our air reserves run out." He told the firebender. Mako just glared at him and said.

"I'm not going to leave my brother behind. Go to the station yourself. I'll just keep searching by myself." Mako said and turned his back to the ranger. Now anger was rising in Artyom and he grabbed on to Mako and slammed him into the closest wall.

"Listen you child, people die all the time in the metro. I myself have lost brothers in arms. You think that I don't know how you feel. Pavel, Stephan, Uhlman is just a few of the many who have died and their deaths will always be on my conscience." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice

"But I bet that your brother would not want all of us to disappear while looking for him. I meant what I said before that I am truly sorry but…we must continue on to the station." Mako got loose from Artyom grip and aimed his hands at Artyom.

"I'm not leaving him behind!" He yelled out in anger at the ranger. Artyom glared at the teen and responded.

"You're going to try and burn me. Go ahead; I'll shoot your head clean off if you try that!" He yelled back while he aimed his Kalash on Mako's head. Both stood and aimed on each other with their respective weapons while glaring angrily on each other through their respective gasmasks. Korra then realized that she had enough of both of them.

"Alright, both of you calm down." She said while stomping on the ground and a stone wall appeared between them. Both of them jumped away in surprise of that action and then they both looked at her and she continued talking.

"Look Mako, he's right. We can't continue on. We must go to the station. I'm down to my last filter and as well with Asami. I hate to leave Bolin behind but we must do it." Mako glared at her and then at Asami and then back at her but then sighed.

"I promised him when mom and dad died I would take care of him no matter what. I don't want to break that promise." He while he looked down on the ground, a tear escaping his eye. Artyom walked past the stone wall and up to Mako and put his and on his shoulder.

"Let us honor you brothers' memory by getting you guys to safety, come on." Artyom said with a sad tone and started to walk towards the direction of the station. Asami looked at Mako and then followed, Korra did the same. Mako took one last look on the buildings behind him and sighed. He followed the group when they suddenly heard something.

"Hey, there you guys are." They all turned around too looked at were the voice was coming from and saw a familiar person coming running towards them from an alleyway.

"Bolin!" Mako screamed on top of his lungs in happiness and ran up to his brother and hugged him as hard as he could.

"Can't. Breathe." Bolin managed to say. Mako let go and smiled sheepishly. Korra and Asami ran up to him as well while Artyom walked up to him. The teens had no end of questions.

"How did you get away?" Korra asked.

"How did you find us?" Asami asked.

"And where did you get that?" Mako asked while referring to the gun in his hand.

"Well, it had taken me to its nest on the rooftop and was about to eat me but I managed to avoid it. I managed to escape from the roof that it had taken me to. I then fell into the water again and almost got eaten by one of those shrimps again but I got away. I then noticed that I had lost all my filters but I managed to find a dead body that had a lot of filters in his backpack. I then took his gun because it looked cool and was once again almost eaten by one of those so called watchmen. I killed it with this gun and then I started to search for you guys. I heard screaming in the background and decided to check it out and here we are." He finished. His friends looked on in amazement but the one who were most amazed where Artyom who walked up to the group. He then showed them the content of his backpack.

"Look, I got filters for everybody." He said and everyone took at least one.

"Most impressive, You guys are more experienced that I first thought. And that gun that you are holding is a rare gun, very hard to find and very expensive." He said while pointing at the gun.

"It is?" Bolin said while looking the gun over again.

"Da, it is called a Kalash 2012. It was the most modern weapon used by the military before the war and is highly sought after in the metro thanks to its performance and durability. To find one in the metro is rare and to find one on the surface is even rarer. It is good and all but I prefer the older version." He said while referring to his gun in his hands.

"It is much better than a bastard gun." He said while smirking at Asami who just glared at him while holding said gun. Bolin smiled knowing that he had found a rare weapon that was according to Artyom one of the best there is. Artyom then came to think of something.

"Tell me Bolin, how did the body look like?" He asked the earthbender.

"Well, it wore some strange clothes hard to describe but it had this around its throat." He said while giving the necklace to Artyom. Artyom eyes widened under his gasmask and he took the necklace from Bolin and studied it closer. His eyes widened in realization, it was a ranger mark.

"Do you know what it is?" Bolin asked, Artyom nodded and started to explain.

"This is a ranger mark, it belongs to the order. A group of soldiers dedicated on keeping the peace in the metro. They utilize the most modern technology in the metro and they are the best and most skilled fighters as well. One of them is tough enough to bring down at least ten enemy soldiers or mutants before he goes down. This guy must have been a ranger stalker. They are chosen wisely amongst the rangers to walk up on the surface of dead Moscow to bring back certain artifacts. Sadly, not all of them return from such a mission." He finished and looked over the tag once again.

"This man was named Ivan Popov, sergeant. You did a great service in bringing this to me Bolin." He said while looking at said earthbender.

"I did?" He asked confused. Artyom nodded.

"The order always wants to know what happens to those who do fail to return. I will bring this to the orders archives so they can write down who have fallen in battle." He said with a sad tone while he turned towards the direction of the station.

"How do you know so much about the rangers?" Korra asked, wanting to know more. This so called order had really sparked her interest.

"That's easily, I'm one of them." Was all Artyom said. The teens looked at each other but then decided to once again follow them.

"Oh, one more thing Artyom." Bolin suddenly said. Artyom stopped walking and turned towards the earthbender.

"Da?" Artyom said.

"I witnessed a weird vision but thanks to your advice I wasn't fooled by it but when it had finished I saw a strange creature. It was tall and humanoid. It had long arms and a weird looking trunk on its face but didn't look like one of these Nosalises. Do you know what it was?" He asked the ranger. Artyom eyes went wide and he grabbed on to the earthbender.

"You saw a dark one?!" He asked in disbelief. Bolin who was taken aback by that action managed to say.

"I...I think so." Artyom let go of him and said with a quiet voice while smiling.

"They have returned." He said with a tone of hope. The teens looked once again confused at him and Asami spoke up.

"What do you mean by that and what is a dark one?" She asked.

"Later, now we must continue. Belorusskaya is just around the corner. We will be there in no time and then we can finally rest." Artyom responded while walking at the side of the road.

"We can cut through this building to get to the station faster." He said and walked up to said building on their right. They entered through the main door and walked into a large room. The room looked like a check in area and it was so far except for them empty of anything alive. It looked like some kind of store of some kind. The walls had shelves on them and a counter was at the end of the room. They walked towards a room in the end but Artyom then suddenly stopped while a weird sound was coming from him.

"What is making that sound?" Mako asked.

"See for yourself." Artyom said and took out a strange looking device from his backpack. It was yellow and at had meter on it. Artyom pointed it to the room in front of them and it went crazy.

"We can't go through here." Artyom said and put the device away.

"Why not?" Korra asked.

"The room is flooded with radiation. We will be dead before we even get halfway through." He said and looked for an alternative route.

"What is radiation and what was that thing that you used?" Bolin asked.

"Radiation in an invisible energy that if you are exposed too much of it you will die within seconds. The thing that I used is called a Geiger counter and it is used to find radiation hotspot and for avoiding them." He said and walked through another room instead.

"The radiation was left behind after the bombs detonated and most of the surface is so irradiated it can boil water. There are also some hotspots down in the metro as well." He finished and the teens listened on to every word. They walked through the rest of the building with no big problems and soon exited on the other side. The street like all the others were broken up into two halves with them being on the other side and with a river between them.

"There is the entrance to the station." Artyom said while pointing at a stairway that went down into a building.

"We just need to find a way into the sta…" He was suddenly interrupted by a howl in the distance.

"Shit, not now. Not when we are so close. We must find a way across NOW!" He practically yelled the last words. The teens recognized that sound. It was the same howl they have heard before. It was the same howl before that huge pack of watchmen came running past them in the playground. Soon enough, they could see the creatures. They started to come out of the buildings and growled at the group of people. Artyom looked around and spotted a bus that lay like a bridge across the gap.

"There, to the bus now." He said and sprinted to the bus. The teens followed while the horde of watchmen attacked. Artyom raised his gun and fired at the creatures and killing one after another while sprinting towards the bus. Mako used his fire to scare them of and they kept their distance from the firebender. Korra did the same combined with air bending to throw any beast who tried to lounge at her. Bolin and Asami ran as fast as they could while holding their respective found weapons. They ran into the bus and through it to the other side. The group ran towards the entrance to the station but they were far from safe. The watchmen had used the bus as well as a bridge and soon caught up with the fleeing humans. They ran down the stairs while hearing the growling and howling behind them. They soon reached the end and found themselves in front of a large metal door. Artyom ran up to it and started to bang on it as hard as he could.

"Open up you bastards!" He yelled while banging on the door. The teens saw the huge horde of creatures run down the stairs when they suddenly heard alarms behind them.

"Okay, we hold it out here until they can open up the door, give them everything you have." He said while rising is rifle and opened fire at the beasts. Korra, Mako and Bolin used their bending to repel the beasts. Asami was just about to raise her gun and fire upon the watchmen when one jumped and landed right on Artyom. Artyom was taken by surprise and tried to fight the monster of. Asami aimed her gun and fired away. Just like Bolin had been, she was surprised by the knockback the weapon had and almost fell of her feet. She bullets flew towards Artyom and the watchmen and they hit right where they were supposed to go. The beast howled in pain and fell of Artyom. He got back on his feet and looked at Asami.

"Spasibo." He said while getting back up on his feet. They could suddenly hear the giant door opening.

"Quickly, to the side." Artyom said and ran up to the wall. The teens did the same and as soon the door had fully opened two guards dressed in heavy armor came out carrying strange looking devices and started to release large flames at the incoming horde. The two armored guards easily dispatched the horde. The group ran through the open door and the two armored guards followed and soon the door started to close with the surviving watchmen effortlessly trying make it inside before it fully closed. It soon shut close and the watchmen howled in anger for their lost prey. Behind the large door, Artyom and the gang tried to catch their breath when Artyom decided to say something similar that someone he knew had said after a similar situation.

"Like a stroll through the park." He said with a grin while the teens glared at him.


End file.
